Apparatus for tilting a pile of material



May 13, 1952 K. EGGE 2,596,386

APPARATUS FOR TILTING A PILE OF' MATERIAL Original Filed Feb. l1; 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l BY' KLM/5 665,

May 13, 1952 K, EGGE APPARATUS FOR TILTING A PILE 0F MATERIAL Original Filed Feb. 11, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 uw R IN.m .n 4

INVENTOR:

/ /fbr/rey.

(mz/5 E665, BY.'

May 13, 1952 K. ESGE 2,596,386

l APPARATUS FOR TILTING A PILE OF' MATERIAL Original Filed Feb. ll, 1948 5 sheets-sheet 3 INVENTOR.' -I Xml/5 [665,

Patented May 13, 1952 APPARATUS FOR TILTING A PILE OF MATERIAL Klaus Egge, Pittsburgh, Pa., assgnor to United States Steel Company, a corporation of New Jersey Original application February 11, 1948, Serial No. 7,686. Divided and this application May 26, 1949, Serial No. 95,482

I 8 ,Claims This invention relates to the inspection of sheet material such as tin-plate and, in particular, to an improved apparatus facilitating the performance of the inspection.

Despite many advances in other stages of manufacture, the inspection of tin-plate is still carried on by the time-honored method of observing the exposed surface of the top sheet of a pile standing on a support, manually lifting and turning the sheet and then observing the other side. This is a tedious and time-consuming operation and requires considerable labor. The object of my invention, therefore, is to provide apparatus whereby inspection is facilitated. In a preferred embodiment I provide mechanism for tilting a pile of tin-plate through a substantial angle, less than 90, from its normal vertical position so as to permit inspection of the exposed surface of the top sheet as it lies on the pile. The top sheet is then turned downwardly about its lower edge as an axis and the other side inspected. These steps are repeated for each sheet in the pile.

The apparatus I provide for tilting the pile includes an inclined track and an L-shaped carriage traveling thereon but tiltable about an axis adjacent its vertex to erect position for receiving a pile of sheets standing vertically. The tilting carriage has power means for advancing it upwardly along the track after it has been tilted down, as sheets are turned downwardly from the pile for completion of the inspection. For turning the sheets downwardly, I may provide an arm reciprocable toward and from the pile after it has been tilted so its axis is parallel to the track, which arm has suction fingers engageable with the top sheet. The travel of the arm is so controlled as to turn the sheet downwardly and then slide the iingers out from under the sheet. Means are preferably provided for applying suction to the lingers intermittently in timed relation to the reciprocation of the arm. A conveyor may be employed to carry the sheets away successively after they have been inspected. Restraining means may be adjustably mounted above the pile to aid the separation of the top sheet from the remaining sheets. This mechanism for turning the sheets downwardly is also disclosed and claimed in my application Serial No. 7,686, led February ll, 1948 for Apparatus for Turning Sheets Down successively from a Tilted Pile Thereof of which this is a division.

The invention is particularly useful when installed at the head of a classifier capable of separating prime sheets, menders and wasters, under the control of an inspector.

the bearing posts I'I.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description and explanation which refer to the accompanying drawings illustrating apreferred embodiment of the apparatus. In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan view;

Figure 2 is a side elevation showing the carriage in downturned position with a phantom pile of sheets thereon;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the carriage without a pile thereon, showing an adjustable mounting of the retaining means; and

Figure 4 is a plan ofthe carriage as projected on the plane of line IV-IV of Figure 3. l

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the apparatus comprises generally an inclined track I0 on which an L-shaped carriage I l travels, the carriage being adapted to receive a pile of sheets I2 when tilted to erect position, shown in chain lines in Figure 2. The track is supported on a structural frame I3. The carriage is fabricated of suitable stock and includes a leg IIa having conveyor rolls I4 journaled therein and a leg IIlo at right angles to the leg IIa, including a plurality of spaced bars and having wheels I5 on both sides at the upper and lower ends adapted to travel on the rails of track i0. The wheels I5 at the lower end of leg I lb are mounted on a shaft I6 extending through the carriage at approximately the intersection of the center lines of the two legs.

The lowermost position of the carriage is determined by xed bearing posts I1, best shown in Figures 3 and 4, having notches in one side adapted to be engaged by shaft I6. Upon such engagement, the carriage is tiltable to erect position, shown in Figure 2 so that the leg I Ia is in position to receive a pile of sheets standing vertically on a pallet I2f. Successive piles of sheets may be delivered to the carriage by any convenient means, such as a roller conveyor in alignment with the leg i la when the carriage is in erect position. For tilting the carriage, a forked crank I8 having a longitudinal slot Iiiat therein is mount-A ed on a shaft I9 journaled in suitable bearings I9 and having a gear segment 20 thereon. A pinion ZI on the low-speed shaft of a reduction' gear 22 meshes with the segment. A motor 23 is coupled to the input shaft of the reductionl The torque exerted by the crank I8 is applied to the carriage through a crank pin 24 projecting laterally therefrom and adapted to enter the slot Ita in the crank as the carriage descends the track II) until the shaft I6 engages The latter, of course, hold tor.

the shaft in fixed position during tilting of the carriage in either direction.

After receiving a pile of sheets while in the erect position, the carriage is tilted down to the position` shown in solid lines in Figure 2 by the means just described. The carriage is then moved upwardly along the track to bring the top of the pile into working position. For this purpose, a motor in the form of a duid-pressure cylinder-and-piston is mounted between the is more or less constantly maintained in a predetermined position.

Ar carry-.away conveyor 27 for disposing of the sheets after they have been turned down from the pile, includes a plurality of belts 23 parallel to the rails of track IiLspaced apart therebetween and disposed between adjacent bars of the leg IIb of the carriage. The belts are trained around pulleys 29 journaled in suitable bearingsV between the rails, pulleys 33 cn an idle shaft 3i and pulleys 32 on a drive shaft 33, the shafts 3i and 33 being journaled in an extension Iaof the frame I3. The shaft 33 is driven by a motor 34 through a reduction gear 35, a variable speedreducer 36 and chain-and-sprocket drives 31 and 3B. Magnets 39 are mounted between the conveyorbelts for Yholding the sheets in contact therewith as they pass over the pulleyste which form the vertex of the generally triangular path traversed by the belts.

It will be apparent that, when a pile of sheets has been disposed on the carriage in the position shown, in Figure 2, the exposed surface of the top sheet may readily be inspected by an operator standing beside the carriage. For successivelyturning down the sheets of the pile onto the portions of the conveyor belts 2S which extend between the spaced bars forming the leg IIb of the carriage', l provide an arm i3 extending laterally over the pile from a guide box iii on the opposite side of the carriage from the opera- The box 'is fabricated from plate and is mounted on a supporting structure 12. The spaced sides of the box have cam slots or tracks 43 therein and the portions of the arm lili extending through the slots are provided with bearingV rollers M. The slots f1.3 have the shape ofV a i reverse curve, as clearly shown in Figure 2. The left-hand portion of the curve is a circular arc, while the right-hand portion is substantially straight but continuous therewith and upturned at an angleof 40 or more to the tangent. Suc-V tion fingers 45 mounted in spaced relation on the arm 4i) are adapted to engage the top sheet in the pile and turn it about its lower edge as the armmoves from left to right inthe slots 43. The shape of the slots, as above described, has the effect first of moving the upper edge of the sheet about the lower edge as an axis past the dead center position and second, when the rollersV on the arm enter the upturned right-hand end of ther s lots, to slide the ngers out from under the upper edge of the sheet and permit it to fall on the conveyor 27. rThe conveyor is driven continuously and serves to carry away each sheet as it falls thereon.

The arm is reciprocated in the slots 43 by a Vsprocket drive from the shaft 41.

crank disc 46 on a shaft 41 journaled in suitable bearings and driven through a chain-andsprocket drive from the output shaft of reduction gear 35. A pitman 43 is pivoted to the crank disc and to the portion of the arm 43 between the side plates of box 4I. In order to assure that the arm i3 is maintained normal to the side blades Yof the box at all times, telescopic radius rods 43 iixed to a shaft 53 journaled in the side plates of the box are pivoted to the arm just inside the latter. The shaft 53, as shown in Figure 2, is in alignment, with the lower edge of the top sheet of the pile.

A single-acting suction cylinder 5I is mounted onthe side of the box 4! and has a piston reciprocating therein driven by a chain-and- The piston serves to apply suction intermittently to the nngers 45 through suitable connections (not shown) including flexible hose. The operation o f the pis- Y ton is so timed relative to the reciprocation, of the arm 40 as to exert a strong suction as the arm starts toward the right from its extreme.left.. hand position. As the arm approaches the righthand end of its travel, the pump piston .has

reached the limit of its working `stroke and the ngers 35, therefore, exert no suction on the sheet as they slide out Afrom under the upper edgethereof.

In order to prevent the suction ngers from tilting more than one sheet at a time, I provide restraining rnagnetsbiV overhanging the upper edges of thev sheets at the top of the pile. |I Ehese magnets are mounted on brackets secured to a bar 53 extending transversely of the pile from a slide 541. The slide is carried by the guides 55 o n the adjacent side of the box 4I, parallel vto the leg IIa of the carriage when in its downturned position. The slide is .adjustable vertically by means of a screw shaft 56 journaled VVfrom brackets 5l' on the end of the box and threaded through a tapped hole in a lug 58 extending laterally from the bar 53. The magnets are so p ositioned that theA top of the pile I2 on the carriage clears them as it turns downwardly. Thereafter, the carriage is moved up the track a short distance to bring the upper edges of the top sheets under the poles of the magnets.

It will be evident from the foregoing that,

, when a pile of sheets has been disposed in the position shown in Figure 2, continuous operationY of the crank disc 4S will cause the arm 40 repeatedly to separate and turn down from the pile;

the top sheet thereof about its lower edge as an axis. As previously stated,V the inspectormay observe the exposedl surface of each sheet as it comes to the tcp of the pile and the reverse Sill* Y face as it is turned down onto the conveyor. The carriage and the pile thereon, of course, are advanced upwardly along the track I Il asv the sheets are turned down and carried away. The apparatus is particularly Well' suited' for use. .in conjunction with a classifying line composed of a series of continuous conveyors with deflectors 'therebetween adapted tobe remotely controlled for directing the sheets into successive'diferent piles of prime sheets, menders and westers, de: pending on the character of the sheets as determined by the inspectors observation. For such installation, pedal switches are'preferably pro-f vided at the inspectors position for controlling the deflectors in the classifying line.

As will be obvious from the foregoing description and explanation, the invention provides an apparatus for inspecting tin-:plate having nu:Y

merous advantages over the prior practice. In the rst place, the sheets are mechanically handied throughout, thus obviating the manual labor necessary heretofore and permitting more rapid inspection since the limit on the speed of inspection with manual handling is the time required to turn the sheet and not that for observing the two sides thereof which requires but a quick glance. A further advantage is that marking of the sheets, which results from manual handling unless careful precautions are taken, is avoided. In addition, the invention is well-adapted, as stated above, for cooperation with known classifying apparatus which facilitates disposition of off-prime sheets.

While I have illustrated and described the invention as applied to the particular problem of tilting down a pile of sheets for inspection individually. it may be used equally advantageously for tilting down any other mass of material requiring such handling for any purpose whatever.

Although I have illustrated and described only a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be recognized that changes in the details of construction or procedure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for tilting a mass of material to inclined position comprising an inclined track, an L-shaped carriage adapted to travel thereon with one of its legs substantially parallel thereto, said carriage being tiltable to erect position about an axis adjacent its vertex for receiving said mass on the other leg thereof and a bearing at the lower limit of travel of the carriage adapted to arrest it and fix the position of said axis during tilting.

2. The apparatus defined by claim 1 characterized by power means for tilting said carriage.

3. The apparatus defined by claim 2 characterized by said means including a separable connection which is engaged when the carriage reaches said lower limit.

4. The apparatus defined by claim 1 characterized by means for tilting said carriage including a crank pin extending therefrom and a crank having a slot adapted to receive said pin when the carriage is at said lower limit.

5. The apparatus defined by claim 1 characterized by power means for moving said carriage along said track.

6. The apparatus defined by claim 1 characterized by a cylinder and piston extending along the track, one secured to the carriage and the other to a fixed abutment, whereby the carriage may be advanced up the track and returned downwardly thereof.

7. Apparatus for tilting a mass of material to inclined position comprising an inclined track, an L-shaped carriage adapted to travel thereon with one of its legs substantially parallel thereto, said carriage being tiltable to erect position about an axis adjacent its vertex for receiving said mass on the other leg thereof, a fixed post at the lower end of the track having a bearing open at one side, and a shaft extending transversely of the carriage adapted to engage said bearing whereupon the carriage may tilt about said shaft to erect position.

8. The apparatus defined by claim 7 characterized by means for tilting the carriage including a forked crank and a pin on the carriage cooperating with the crank when the carriage is in tilting position.

` KLAUS EGGE.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Albrecht July 26, 1904 Number 

